Cornelius Nepos (Nepos, Cornelius)

Nepos, Cornelius; Nepos, Cornelius, OK. 99 ca. 24 years. BC. e., a Roman scholar, historian and biographer. Born in trans-alpine Gaul. Engaged exclusively in literary activities, not taking part in political life. He was on friendly terms with Cicero, Attica, Varro, poet Catullo and other prominent members of the cultural elite of his time, which undoubtedly influenced his work. As a teenager, N., probably wrote poetry. He was also the author of the lost geographical labor. The most vulnerable are the product of historical Chronicles (Chronica), written in about 54 g. BC. e., 3 books, on which were only scattered fragments. It was synchronistic tables sopostavlyuschie most important events in the history of Greece and Rome, beginning with the mythical reign of Saturn.

The samples for this work served as Apollonius of Athens, and lived in the I. BC. e. Castor of Rhodes. Founding of Rome N. dated 751/750 years. BC. e. (according to our countdown). Chronicles used Cicero, read them more in the IV. n. e. Another product of H. Examples (or samples) (Exempla), at least 5 books, was created after the 44 g BC. e. It was a collection of short stories on various everyday topics, historical anecdotes and descriptions of natural phenomena. Product is lost, we know him only from the quotations and references in later authors (Pliny the Elder, Valerius Maximus, Suetonius, Gellius). However, very loud renown H. yielded the product (so far only partly preserved) under the name of the glorious life of their husbands (De viris illustribus).

It stood at the very least 16 books, two in each group: the leaders, governors, historians, orators, poets, and grammar (do not know what were the two remaining groups). In each group one book included biographies of the Greeks, the second - the Romans. The life of famous men was published twice: the first time between 35 and 32 years., The second - after the death of a well-known publisher of Attica, died at 32 g. Survived 22 biographies of Greek leaders and the biography of Hannibal, and biographies of the Roman-only biography of Cato the Elder and Attica. N. often refers to his sources, but he rarely speaks directly to them. He was not a critical or a meticulous researcher, and he can find historical errors. He writes in simple language, but sometimes inserts rhetorical ornaments and archaisms. Although the language N., . as the reliability of his information, . criticized even in antiquity (Kvintillian, . Pliny the Elder), . Life glorious essay husbands later became a favorite of school reading, . by moralistic trends and availability of the narrative.,